Are You Positively Senior Friendly?

     Jack Dorsey, the founder of Twitter, and the City of Lakewood have something in common-they're both positively senior friendly. Dorsey is a regular follower of 75 year old Natalie Yellin's tweets. In fact, Ms. Yellin is a trusted adviser to his mobile payments company, Square, Inc.  Like  Mr. Dorsey, Lakewood's business community knows what to do with aging parents and grandparents. Give them a job.

     Positively Senior is a new business in Lakewood that transforms seniors from net consumers of community resources into net producers, contributing to the economic growth and development of the neighborhoods they live in. Our mission is to match seniors according to their skills, experience and interest, for work in local businesses and to market those businesses employing our seniors to all generations.

     At Positively Senior we believe that seniors who lead purposeful lives through meaningful work are healthier and wealthier, requiring fewer of a community's precious but dwindling resources and having a pocket full of change to spread around town.

     If you think granny can be packed up with grandpa and warehoused like canned sardines, think again. U.S. Census Data report the number of people between 65 and 85 will double by 2030 and represent 20% of the entire population. More than 90% will remain living in their communities.

     A growing number of research studies consistently show social isolation in older adults increases the progression of a spectrum of diseases, including depression, dementia, heart disease, hypertension and diabetes. 

    The AARP has formed the Isolation Impact Team, a task force to study the problem. Preliminary results have concluded social isolation in seniors is more deleterious than smoking fifteen cigarettes a day, consuming more than six alcoholic beverages per day or not exercising. They also found the health risk of being alone is twice that of obesity.

     For those naysayers worried seniors will take jobs from younger workers supporting families, don't be. Seniors no longer want to sit at the head of the table. They just want to be invited for dinner. I know. I am Positively Senior.

Positively Senior is now accepting applications. E-mail: Positively4Seniors@yahoo.com

Georganne Vartorella, M.D.

Georganne Vartorella, M.D., the founder and CEO of POSITIVELY SENIOR, is a patient advocate, freelance writer and board certified physician. Dr. Vartorella had a successful private practice of Internal Medicine in Lakewood.

Read More on Seniors
Volume 9, Issue 24, Posted 5:43 PM, 11.28.2013